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Tweak says, "Belgium, man, Belgium!"

eric_beal (eric_beal) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2011-09-12 20:57:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2011 09, character: derek morgan, character: g callen, dead: eric beale

RP: Eric/Derek
Who:Erik, Derek,
Where:Team Center
When: September 12
Summary: Eric finds a flag

Working here wasn't at all like working at home. Most of his time was spent trying to find information which would lead them to find a way home, only some of it looking for people or doing any of the things that would have been routine back home. Cases had been rather few so far, so when the flag appeared on his computer Eric was at first almost surprised.

It was brief and too the point reading: SEPTEMBER 12, 2011. AUTOPSY. JANE DOE. BURN VICTIM. ABNORMALITY:ICE CRYSTALS IN BONE FRAGMENTS. DR. NANCY L. JONES, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER. 2121 W. HARRISON STREET, CHICAGO, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS. Not much information, but enough to know that this was something for them. Eric immediately forwarded the information it to Morgan.

Perhaps it wasn't the same as whistling for the team back home, but nevertheless it was a case.

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derek__morgan
2011-09-13 01:22 am UTC (link)

Derek's first instinct when he saw the email with the file was to call his team and start working, but he stopped himself. He didn't mind taking the case, in fact, he loved taking the case, but there was a problem. They had never figured out who was doing what. Sure they had fancy names and teams, but they were winging things, changing procedures as they got bigger. It wasn't going to last forever.

He walked out of his office and into Callen's, closing the door. "We spend so much time together, I feel like we're married," he said, taking a seat. "Eric, just sent me an email. It's a case with some medical anomaly. Ice crystals in the bones of a burn victim, and I admit that I love to take it, but do you know that we have no way to decide who gets this other than Eric or Garcia making a judgement call based on very preliminary and inconclusive information. At home, there is clear jurisdiction, vetting agents. We have nothing here, so how do we pick?"

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g_callen
2011-09-13 11:34 pm UTC (link)

"Closed doors won't keep you out; we always need to talk; we're not fucking. Yep, you must be the wife," G deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the unannounced entrance, before setting what he was working on aside and moving from his usual spot in the leather chair by the television to take a seat in one of the four chairs around the table that served as a desk and meeting area. He flipped the sound down on the small television as he did so.

"Ice crystals in the bones of a burn victim?" Oh yeah, that couldn't be natural.

G snorted softly as Morgan went on. He'd realized when the cases had first combined so they all wound up in Morgan's lap that they had no real system with Burke gone. It had been as easy to give the financial, or so they thought, case to Burke as it was for OSP to be assigned as the retrieval unit for new arrivals. But, so much of the areas between overlapped there was little indication which unit was better suited as cases came. Eventually the caseload would increase and that was when Vance wouldn't be able to take the time to hand pick assignments except in rare cases. "I'm happy with letting Vance choose," he said flippantly.

"Okay, so, what is each unit's focus? That's really how we're going to decide who gets what. What's the focus and what are our strengths? Obviously, undercover work, counterintelligence, and surveillance are making up a large part of the group training I do with OSP, for example, but we can't keep the focus quite that narrow or you'll get most of the cases and we really will be a pseudo-Special Forces unit," he added with a laugh, though he honestly wouldn't mind that outcome if it meant having a solid core of well-trained fighters and operatives when they day came they had to run.

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derek__morgan
2011-09-14 01:53 am UTC (link)

"Then I expect you to support me in the standard I'm accustomed to," he answered without missing a beat, "and I get to nag you. I might actually be getting the better end of the deal here. It's a good thing that I don't feel threatened by my feminine side."

Derek snorted. "I'm sure the director will love to become our vetting agent. We could create a vetting position, give it to someone we know shouldn't be on the field. That might take some work from us." He looked at the one page he had printed out. "The problem I see, even with a vetting agent, is that we have no way of knowing which team is best suited until we investigate. It's a catch 22."

He leaned back. "I'm going to suggest something unthinkable. At home any FBI unit would have back up from local law enforcement, plus federal agencies. We don't do everything ourselves. Right now, the cases are so few, we're mostly doing separate training. What if we work the cases together? Anything routine, like interviewing doctors, coroners, simple witness, my team covers; anything that might involve more dangerous work you guys cover. We might avoid a repeat of Burke. This way, when we get a new case, we both get a report, and we assign jobs together, and as more people get used to actually doing things and hopefully we get more cases, we do get a vetting agent."

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g_callen
2011-09-15 05:25 pm UTC (link)

"As long as you can cook and clean," G parried. "I'll buy you an apron. You'll be all set."

Chuckling, G nodded. "I'm sure he would." of course it might be vetting which organs they got to keep if they asked him seriously. "There should be some investigation already done, though. Local PD should have a case file; there should be a crime scene processed or being processed. It might not be much in a lot of cases, but some. We're not first responders. There should be more than a page."

Smirking as Morgan went on about how the FBI worked, he raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I remember." It was funny how most people seemed to forget he had experience with more than just NCIS and OSP, even if that was his longest stay anywhere. "It was generally the reason I was at odds with Upper."

As Morgan continued, however, G sat back to consider the idea. It wasn't too far off from the way they'd worked back home. OSP didn't get brought in unless there was a need for their special brand of operations. There were other units, even in L.A. that did the more routine investigations. "I'm good with avoiding another incident like that one. My biggest reservation with the idea is the question of where does the buck stop? Even when agencies work together, one has point. Who has point? Both of us? Whichever of us is available at the time when something that can't wait for us to discuss it comes up? Whichever of us is responsible for the people in the field at the time? Will we both be in the Ops Center for every operation we're not in the field for ourselves?

"Also what line is being drawn for the consideration of "more dangerous" work? Heavier firepower? Infiltration? Even between us, we ought to have some idea who's going to handle what in case things come up that can't wait for us to make time to meet and discuss. I don't know about you, but I'm not a desk jockey. I intend to be out there in the field with my team. And, for example, I may be out there for days or weeks, without communicating with anyone but my partner if something actually comes up that requires me to do deepcover work." Not that he was holding his breath on that one. But, it might happen. "Sam would be here as my Second in Command for OSP, but would we want him taking over for me in this capacity? Or would we have our own set of guidelines for even us to follow so you could make the decisions you could while I was gone?"

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derek__morgan
2011-09-15 08:12 pm UTC (link)

"I can cook. The cleaning is debatable, but I can sit with Savannah and share recipes," he joked. "You'd better get me a ring too, and not the same one," he said, nodding toward Callen's hand.

"Depending on the case, I'm sure there is, but again the techs only search for anomalies, so they get a page if we're lucky. More like a paragraph I would think. We'll have to get the full files, maybe have people either go talk to the officers in charge if it's local or call. I can set up a group inside my team that deals with that. I mean I get that we don't want to create more units and separate lines of command, and really everyone should know the basic, but maybe we can have a group that does just that." He thought for a moment. "I can put Neal in charge of that, and he can ask for someone to go with him, have different people, maybe even the trainees if you are okay with it. It's experience and it's safe, or as safe as it can ever be."

Derek smiled. "BAU can't take a case unless invited and JJ picks them. We rarely had to deal with the bureaucratic crap. If we were somewhere, local PD had invited us and we wanted to be there."

For every answer there were more questions. "Okay, Eric or Garcia get a flag, they give the file to Neal who gets the info we need, or as much as there is and forwards it to both of us. I'd say we decide who's got point on each case. No
matter what communication problems we have, neither of us is on an ego trip. If we don't have enough info to decide, we both take point. I'd say that regardless who has point, if there is an emergency, the other makes the final decision. I'll listen to Sam if he's around. I'm sure you have no problem working with Kensi, but in the end, it's our responsibility. Ops center? I don't know. I've never used one and I'll have to get used to standing there when I could be doing something else. I honestly have no interest in being there, but I'll do what needs to be done." Others might love the toys, but standing around watching people in the field would drive him crazy, checking for mistakes, second guessing them, even if it was a wonderful tool to see how they thought.

"I'd say anything that you'd go in with a reasonable expectation of gun fire, it's yours. I'm not saying that my team shouldn't be in a situation where there could be a shooting, because then they'd never go anywhere, but you get a feeling on which interviews are more likely to blow up in your face." Derek laughed. "I promise to pay attention to Sam if you win the lotto and have to go undercover for a long time. Right after I take Santa out for dinner."

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g_callen
2011-09-15 09:50 pm UTC (link)

"As long as you can shoot as well as she can while doing so." Catching Morgan's glance, G shook his. "Mm, nope, 'fraid jewelry's a deal breaker."

G fell silent while Morgan went through point by point. "We had Hetty to handle the bureaucratic crap," he said with a chuckle once Morgan was finished. "I know Eric is used to pulling all the information local agencies have for us at home. When we get brought in for briefing, he's already got the case files, evidence logs, medical reports, basic backgrounds of victims, and anything else that's available. Do we need someone else other than Eric and Garcia, or an eventual vetting agent, handling that in most cases? Shouldn't require much more than a couple calls and some emails, especially if it's out of state. Deeks might have been our liaison to LAPD, but that was more because Hetty wanted him as an agent. Not for his liaising skills."

Yeah, G knew that was a word, despite what they'd teased Deeks about that first time out.

"You think I'm kidding about the undercover work." It wasn't likely. Not if the cases they had so far were any indication. But, it wasn't impossible. Just another angle to consider. "Maybe not a lot of true deep cover assignments. But, we're going to end up running the gamut of case types here. I wouldn't rule anything out. And there aren't many here that can pull off the deep covers. Few enough that are truly versatile undercover at all, even among those I take on for OSP, where that's part of my criteria."

G shrugged. "Right. Deciding point between us is fine. And the next time OSP goes out for a retrieval, you should be in Ops, see how it works. Or, better yet, we can set up a training drill. Not wait for chance. I'd rather be in the field myself. But, if I can't be, Ops is the next best thing. Although, again we're back to knowing where our lines are for ourselves to decide because I'm guessing most of the things coming across our desks aren't going to indicate a need for OSP as a high-powered tac team which is going to land you with everything until there's enough information to justify bringing us in."

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derek__morgan
2011-09-15 10:15 pm UTC (link)

"Shooting I can do," he said, before snorting. "I'm glad to know where the line is. So we can get married, but no jewelry. Go it."

Once again it showed how differently they worked. "By your own admission, once you took over, people rarely knew you were even involved. We worked with the local authorities and that meant a lot of talking to them. I've also learned that what's in the reports isn't always what the people know, especially if a case falls outside the norm. No one wants to write down something like 'access to the room is impossible unless you can walk through walls', however, it's something that they might tell you, and considering that we're specializing in crazy, I don't think a computer search is going to be enough. You want a real person talking to another person, but you're right. It's not a lot of work, but I think it's something and Neal is charming enough to get that information."

He shook his head. "No, I think you'd love to have a long term undercover assignment right about now. I also think that the chances are as high as us really getting married."

Derek nodded. "All right, we can do a drill, maybe two. One solo and one having members of my team shadowing you. I don't expect us to be in that situation, but again, things could happen. I'd like for them to have an idea." He smirked. "If you can't be i the field, wouldn't the next best thing be at a desk with files to figure out what makes your UnSub tick and how you can get to him without a single shot being fired?" he asked, knowing that it wasn't part of Callen's idea of how to conduct a mission. "I still think when we get a case, we both work it, regardless of who's on point. You wanted this team to be one, and once with start training with powers, we'll be one even more. We can keep the teams, assignments and divisions as a cover, but maybe working together is the way to go."

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g_callen
2011-09-16 04:09 am UTC (link)

G just smirked. Even in jest there was only one person who got to put even a semi-public claim on him.

"I'm not saying a computer search. I'm saying Eric, Nell, or Hetty did the calls, sent the emails asking for copies of the reports, all of the things we needed before a briefing, except a face-to-face, which could also be done by the assigned agents if it's deemed necessary." G shook his head. "The computer work came after. And, no one wants to write it down, but if it's viewable at the crime scene they don't have to write it down. If you really want Caffery to essentially be the vetting agent, that's fine with me. I think it's necessary, but we can do it that way, it's fine."

Giving Morgan one of his patented wide-eyed looks, he shrugged. "Who knows, we could always end up undercover as a married couple."

"I didn't actually mean for your team to do it. But, just run a scenario with OSP where you're in the ops center so you have an idea what it's like, in case I'm out there and you need to be in Ops working with me. But, sure, your guys can shadow mine on a drill." G snorted. "Not likely. If they're in the fiend and I'm not, the next best thing is being in the Ops Center with a direct comm link to the guys who are in the field. Leave the desk work for before they go out there." G thought he saw where this was going and could start listing the reasons it wasn't going to work. But, he thought better of it, instead asking for clarification. "explain what you mean by using it as a cover because I think we have different ideas as to how that works."

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derek__morgan
2011-09-16 04:22 pm UTC (link)

"Since we don't have Nell, Eric is playing the 'take us home' game and Hetty is dealing with the politicians, I think it's up to us," he said, chuckling. "It's not that I really want him, but that right now we have no one other than a computer system that flags anomalies. If you can think of a better system, I'm all ears, because this isn't an area we had to worry about. As I said, local PD had to invite us in and with the number of cases we had, they sent us more than everything to convince that we should help them."

He snorted. "Somehow, I doubt I'll get that job, but I'm game. It's the closest I'll ever get to marriage."

Derek nodded. "I know that it's not what you meant, but we might have to. We get another surge and you're in a different town, we're not going to sit around and wait, will we? It'll also give everyone an idea how you operate." He smiled. "Desk work is very different for us, but fine." He signed. "I mean that we do what we're doing, keep the structure intact for the world to see, but when it comes to cases, we're not as strict as we'd be back home. There's nothing wrong if we sent agents from both team together."

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g_callen
2011-09-16 08:27 pm UTC (link)

"So, give Caffery access to the system flagging the anomalies and have him handle the whole process. Or, Caffery and Garcia instead of Eric and Garcia." G shrugged. "I'm not saying it's a bad system and we do need an element of personal contact at some point. But, I don't see a need for making two levels with one or two people getting the flags and a different person or two contacting the agencies."

Chuckling, he shook his head. There'd been a time he thought the same thing about marriage. Now he was wearing Sam's ring. "I'd be careful with such statements if I were you. Fate has a way of using them to bite you in the ass later."

"Sometimes you will and sometimes you won't. Sometimes we may need to send someone back if we are out on a retrieval. Sometimes you'll be on your own. Each situation will be different. I wouldn't rule anything out. It's why I ask the questions when they come up, hit all the angles. it's easier to wing it when you have an idea what the viable options are." G smirked. "We like to keep the paperwork to the minimal Hetty will let us get away with. Plus, it's hard enough getting around L.A. The last thing I want to do is keep coming back to the office here to put pieces together and go out again," he added with a laugh. He wasn't surprised by the answer about covers. He still suspected they had very different ideas how that would work. "Nothing wrong with it as long as that cover justifies it. If we establish certain types of cases for each unit officially, then there will be expectations that come along with having members of each show up at a scene, for example. We also have very different ways of running things, some that can't easily be reconciled, such as the way we assign partners. If we can make all the details work and prevent the kinds of problems that are the reasons why things are so strict back home, I'm fine with it. But, I think we'd need to answer a lot more questions for ourselves, in addition to the ones we'll need to answer once we see how everyone's powers can work together. Part of the reason people have been split is because not everyone can work the same way or with the same personality types.

"Just as a random example, let's say we send Rob and Renko out from OSP along with Dom and whomever you're assigning to go with him for that case. Who listens to whom in the field? Who's in charge at the crime scene? Who's giving orders if they come under fire? They have to split up to follow two different leads. Who goes with whom? If we're reducing OSP to a high-powered tac team, are we sending both heavy guns together and the lighter guns together? One of each and splitting up working partners?

"Anything more involved than case types A, C, and D go to MCRT and types B, E, and F to OSP just comes with a lot more questions and decisions that need to be made beforehand, is all I'm saying."

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derek__morgan
2011-09-16 08:47 pm UTC (link)

"We've tried having Garcia do this job, and it really doesn't work well. It also cuts down on the time she has for her other projects which at the moment, is more important than making phone calls," Derek said. "You think Eric doesn't mind, then we can have him and Neal deal with this and free up Garcia completely, or we can give Neal the access. Either works for me."

Derek smiled. "Maybe. My mother would certainly be happy to finally have grandchildren, but it's highly unlikely." It was even more unlikely now that Reid was in the picture, and sooner or later, he'd have to talk to him.

"Exactly, which is why I want people to have an idea how you do things. You might even have part of your team here, so back-up might b all they need. And besides, working together never hurts. If we can do it, so can everyone else." He snorted. "Somehow I get the feeling that you saw all the angles long before you were in charge or cared to ask the questions." Derek couldn't imagine a world with 'minimal' paperwork. God, the BAU lives by paperwork. Hotch used to stay behind to do our reports on top of his. The amount of explanations, the different reports going to different people, the financial accountability for each case. It's insane."

When it came to this, they always ran into some kind of problem. "I think I'm starting to see the problem with covers. You think of covers as the truth, so to speak. I'm so used to paperwork, that I can make the cover fit what we want regardless of what we do… I'm not saying lying out right, just… make the reports fit our truth. I was in charge for a while, and I stayed behind to write all the reports, fix them up, make sure that everything was what it was supposed to be." He shrugged. "There are a lot of truths. As long as we can make it look like the truth, no one has to know if Kensi was with you instead of Savannah as long as we put the right alias. We can work on this, though, or we can find another way. I'm just trying to come up with something."

Again, he was surprised by how well the BAU worked, or how unique it was. "Again, that's really our problem. You're considering that example, while it's never cross my mind, because while Hotch would tell us where to go, we could always decide on our own, and on the field, whoever had the best rapport with the UnSub would be the lead, even if Hotch was there. If it makes sense, you do it, regardless of rank or team, whether it comes from Garcia or Hotch, and yes, I know you can't even think of such a democratic system without popping a vein. I just never thought it'd be an issue, because these are adults, but I'm more than happy to talk," he ended with a smirk. "Why don't we start with this? Send Caffrey to get us our info, and then we see? I want to see pictures, signature, anything that could give us a clue about this UnSub, and then we can decide. Is that all right?”

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g_callen
2011-09-16 09:34 pm UTC (link)

G'd looked at what all the techs were working on. Garcia's plate was the least full of all of them. But, if Morgan wanted to baby her, G was fine relying on Eric and John as he could. "I'm pretty sure Eric would pass out if he were to be asked if he minded. But, as you pointed out, Eric has those other priorities and I'd rather have him available for the times I need someone to help us out on OSP when it's too much for John to handle on his own. We'll give Neal access and when caseload increases, we'll see about adding someone else."

Laughing, he shook his head. "Unlikely has a way of happening more often than people like to admit."

He snorted. "We actually wanted to find a way to work together and we both acknowledge why it's necessary. Some of these people have enough problems understanding it's this or some very unpleasant alternatives." Smirking, he shrugged. "Doesn't make seeing the angles as a lead any less useful. And you can keep your paperwork. The less paperwork we generate, the less reason for Vance to try taking me out of the field for real."

G just boggled as he listened to Morgan. Had the man not paid any attention in the training they'd given on undercover work? "Paperwork cannot be a substitute for living the cover. It can support it, but your cover's blown as soon as a reporter asks for the agent's name, or the agent signs something into evidence, or a witness remembers speaking to a different agent. While Kensi would be more than capable of remembering whose alias she was supposed to use on each case and which badges she should carry, I wouldn't bet on most of them being able to and that's what they'd have to do to make it match up. It's not about truth versus lies. It's telling nine truths to pass off one lie. If you dot the T and cross the I, people notice."

He couldn't help sighing. "And that only works when you have a single unit of experienced agents working together. We could do that with OSP, too. Hell, I've built my reputation at home on breaking every operating procedure there is out there. But, this isn't the BAU and this isn't OSP. A bunch of inexperienced agents, most of whom are still half-rebelling at being agents at best, need some direction out there." And G hated having to be the voice of procedure. The world was seriously fucked up. "Yeah, that's fine. We'll use this as a guinea pig case and figure out the answers we need as we go."

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